2004 Expedition XLT Faulty Cluster? ABS and Brake light on..

[shedtastic]

Annoyingly, as I come to sell our expedition, it has developed a fault. Both the ABS light and the E brake light have come on permanently. A few things lead me to suspect the cluster is faulty:

1) No OBD fault codes found
2) No immediately obvious faults with the e Brake switch
3) Disconnecting the brake fluid level switch at the master cylinder seems to make no difference
4) Brakes seem to work fine
5) LED Odometer sometimes flickers – suggesting some poor connections in the cluster
6) F150 owners report similar problems with similar era F150 clusters

There’s no state inspection where I live in Indiana, so it’s not a huge problem, but it’s likely to make selling the car a bit more difficult.

The F150 tread above had some very similar symptoms, but the cluster is very different (connectors into the cluster are at the top edge, not the bottom)

Parking brake light on? - Page 2 - Ford F150 Forum - Community of Ford Truck Fans

It's this style of cluster:

|Pistonheads - ThumbSnap - Simple Image Hosting & Photo Sharing

|Pistonheads - ThumbSnap - Simple Image Hosting & Photo Sharing

|Pistonheads - ThumbSnap - Simple Image Hosting & Photo Sharing

|Pistonheads - ThumbSnap - Simple Image Hosting & Photo Sharing

I’ve pulled out the cluster and taken the back off. I couldn’t see any obvious dry joints or burned out components, but on the assumption that the connectors are the most ‘strained’ joints, I reflowed the solder on those (and removed a couple of dead bugs that had crawled in and died in there..) but when it was all plugged back in – no improvement..

Anyone else had this issue and found a solution? Any advice welcome..

Neil.

 

[stamp11127]

Ford history shows that the pcb used for the clusters are prone to low qc and will eventually fail. The link to the F150 site indicates the same and has one solution to the cluster problem.

You can either send it off for repair, buy another cluster from Ford or resolder every connection on your current board.

Most scan tools will not have the ability to read codes on clusters or abs units unless they are programed for each set of codes.

ABS light may be on if there is a problem with any of the sensors.

You can not "see" electrical problems, only the results of one if something burns up. Can you see an "open" in a wire or a "closed" switch without testing them? Test the E-brake switch with a meter.

 

[shedtastic]

Most scan tools will not have the ability to read codes on clusters or abs units unless they are programed for each set of codes.

ABS light may be on if there is a problem with any of the sensors.

Ah. This I had not considered.. Good info. My code reader was only $20 so is unlikely to be that good..

I wonder if the scan tool the use at Autozone will pick up the code.. I'll find out tomorrow.

Thanks,

Neil.

 

[shedtastic]

I wonder if the scan tool the use at Autozone will pick up the code..

No it will not. They sell ones that claim to read ABS and SRS codes, but the one they can use on your car is not that fancy.

I will have to see if there is a shop in town I've not yet fallen out with, that I can take the car in to..

Neil.

 

[Skauber]

If you don't mind investing in a scanner, you can buy an OBDLink MX bluetooth adapter. Paired with the app FORScan (free on Windows with more capabilities, 5 bucks on Android with a few limitations) you can read codes from all modules, and on Windows you can even run certain tests and program PATS keys and all.

 

[shedtastic]

If you don't mind investing in a scanner, you can buy an OBDLink MX bluetooth adapter.

Thanks for the link!
Midas used their scanner to diagnose that a rear wheel speed sensor was faulty (though I guess it may be a fault in the hub, that shows up as a wheel speed sensor fault). Obviously their quote was for a complete assembly at $700 fitted, but I bought a $40 replacement wheel speed sensor from NAPA which I may get to try and fit tonight.

I am concerned though that once the replacement is fitted, I'll have to clear the existing fault code?
I'm a bit new to fault codes, but I assume that since the warning light on the cluster comes on as soon as the engine is started, before a wheel has so much as turned (and therefore before the ECU can have decided that the sensor is giving a duff signal) - it must be illuminated due to a stored code.
So even if the sensor was bad, and even if the new one fixes the problem, the light will still be on..

So perhaps I still need to buy one of these gizmos? Or will a prolonged period of battery disconnection do the trick?

Thanks for all the advice..

 

[Skauber]

It's a good thing to have one of these scanners handy when owning an older truck. It can quickly tell you what is going on if the check engine light comes on or if you notice something is acting up. FORScan gives you a lot of information about everything, while the Torque app is a prettier dashboard addition that can display live data such as transmission temperature, fuel trims, fuel rail pressure, oil temp and many more. It's a nice thing to have. But if all you want is to clear codes, then you can do that by simply disconnecting the battery for about 5 to 10 minutes. If you want to truly clear everything, follow the procedure below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZAsoqmqhdM